>> this is the journal on dw-tv. i am heather delisle. >> and i am peter doe wi the business news. >> international help arrives in israel to battle raging wildfires. the german parliament passes a monthly welfare increase, sparking a sharp debate. and nasa finds bacteria that redefines our understanding of the building blocks of lili. ♪ >> hello, and welcome to the "journal" on dw-tv. 16 countries have sent firefighting teams to israel to help local authorities battle a

massive blaze. the largest fire in israel's history has burned more than 2800 hectares of land already hit by drought. the place to call early on thursday. israel launched an international appeal for help hours later, when it became clear they cannot cope. authorities still do not know how the fire started. 41 people died in the flames. more than 15,000 have had to be evacuated. >> the blaze is encroaching on israel's third largest city with a population of 256,000. the emergency crews are helpless against the tower of flames. the fire already consumed 30 square kilometers of land. this was once an idyllic community nestled in the woods. now it is a wasteland. most residents fled, but if you have remained. >> although we were asked to

evacuate, we stayed here to guard our property. it really hurts us, and people are tied to this place. >> firefighting planes are [pdropping tons of water over te mountains. months of drought have turn the region into a tinderbox, and strong winds gusting from the mediterranean are fanning the flames. daytime highs average around 30 degrees celsius. the prime minister convened an emergency cabinet meeting. he acknowledged israel cannot cope with such a mass of wildfire on its own. >> this is a terrible event. some of these people dd while performing admiral -- admirable acts, sacrificing themselves while attempting to save others. we share the pain of the families. >> he met with an emergency response team from greece. international assistance as a ride from the u.s., russia, and turkey. what firefighting planes, authorities have to have the

inferno under control by saturday. >> earlier, i asked our jerusalem correspondent for an update on the efforts to contain the blaze. >> one of the key issues here is the weather. the strong winds need to calm down. the israeli police commissioner said tonight in a briefing that there was significant improvement, but it is not yet under control. because of the darkness now, some of the air operations have been suspended. we were told by the emergency services that the next 24 hours will be crucial, and they hope to get control of the area by saturday night. >> why wasn't israel prepared to handle a situation like this? >> there's a lot of criticism in the public and the media. a lot of be -- questions being asked.

israel and commentators pointed out there is a lack of specialized firefighting aircraft. the fire and rescue services are also not very well. despite all this criticism and questions today, it is still a day of shock and mourning for those who died in gerberry today. the qutions will be det with in the coming days and once this fire is under control. >> thank you. the u.s. president has left afghanistan after a brief surprise visit to the country. speaking at the airbase outside kabul, he told troops he was confident it would succeed in their mission and said there were breaking the momentum of e taliban. obama also met wounded soldiers at the base hospital. he talked with afghan president -- talks with afghan president hamid karzai were cancelled due to the bad weather. >> the commander-in-chief in afghanistan for his second visit. he was greeted at the airbase by the commander of nato and american troops, general david

petraeus. these are images that may just help the embattled president at home. talking to troops on a mission that has entered its ninth year but has little popularity among americans. >> this part of the world is the center of a global effort or we're going to disrupt and dismantle and defeat al qaeda and its extremist allies. and that is why you're here. >> it planned helicopter trip to kabul to meet afghan president hamid karzai had to be cancelled due to the bad weather. he and obama spoke on the telephone instead. it has been a year since the president launched his new afghanistan strategy, raising troop levels by 30,000. but washington is planning on slowly drawing down its forces as early as next july. >> in ivory coast, the top legal body declared the incumbent president e winner of the disputed westafrican country's

presidential election. the un has rejected the announcement and says results showed the rival won the race. soldier attacked the main city in an attempt to force the leader out. >> the opposition was shocked at the outcome. despite a solid majority for their candidate, the constitutional council declared the other candidate the winner. supporters declare their outrage. >> the constitutional council cannot replace the independent electoral commission and proclaim the provisional results. that is not its role. >> the opposition accuses the later clinging to power. he postponed elections five times since 2002. international pressure is growing for him to step aside. he declared himself the rightful winner, the independent election commission agrees, giving impetus for reason of the vote. but his income and rival appears to be determined to office.

the constitutional council and called a large chunk of ballots from seven northern districts. that led to violent confrontations with more than a dozen people reported killed. and with the declaration of the victor, tensions are further high end. the army had added force and the curfew is in effect. >> siemens rounding out the week with nice news. >> a decent longtime rivalry, and siemens has actually won. the german engineering group, siemens corporation, has reportedly signed a lucrative agreement worth more than 700 million euros to supply eurostar with trains. it is the sole operator of trains through the channel tunnel, and the company traditionally used alstom. but the request was blocked from finalizing the order with the siemens corporation.

>> prices for raw materials and to be exploding at t t moment. oil and still are in big demand worldwide in response to rising economic growth. agricultural commodities are also rising sharply. oil increased steadily in the month of november. brent crude is that nearly $90 a barrel, the highest level since october of 2008. the freezing weather across much of europe has boosted energy demand and fuelled the rise of brent crude. prices are also being pressed higher as the economic recovery gains momentum around the world. metals are also going up in value, soaring from one high to the next. it is not only precious metals such as gold which are appreciating. the price oiron ore has doubled since 2009. metals such as copper cost around one-third more than last year. at the climax of the crisis, and this summer to definite, commodity prices were in the basement. since then, they have been rising consistently.

this development also applies to agricultural products. higher prices for cotton, rubber, and coffee are also contributing to the rising index. analysts say the trend is likely to continue. >> the european stock prices closed lower this friday on a worse than expected u.s. jobs data. arkansas dw-tv correspondent has more on today's trading from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> during the morning trading session, everybody was looking at the index. the dax might hit that, but it did not materialize. the u.s. labor market came in, and it is in worse than expected shape. immediately, investors were selling off shares on the german market. this situation is totally different with volkswagen shares. they could add more than 4% today. on a weekly basis, even more than 6%.

it is the prospect as well of more demand for their cars in the german market and very good demand from the united states. there even a shortening their christmas holiday break. >> and looking at several market indices in more detail, let's start off in frankfurt. the blue-chip dax index ended down. the euro stoxx 50[ finished up very small. in new york, investors are moving capital out of stocks and into safer assets. following the release of the miserable jobs data for november. the dow jones industrials closed actually down just a tad, 11,347. the hero is trading for $1.3375. the eu antitrust authorities have raided several pharmaceutical companies on suspicion of colluding to delay the entry of generic drugs into the market. astra zeneca was among those targeted by the european

commission. the british swedish company said that infections at its office is focus on the heartburn drug nexium. i enjoyed thousand 5, astros and the cow was fined 50 million euros for trying to keep a generic drug off of the market. >> thank you. the german parliament has passed a bill that affects the lives of 7 million recipients of long- term unemployment. it increases their monthly payments by five euros to a maximum of 364 euros a month. opposition parties and welfare groups have criticized the crease, saying it is not big enough. the bill has provisions to improve the economic conditions for children in germany who are growing up in poverty. >> two million disadvantaged children should receive more funding for education in the future to improve their employment chances in later life. this is the name of a new program proposed by the german minister for labor and social affairs.

under this scheme, an additional 740 million will be set aside for educational spending. the minister says it will enable social benefits to be distributed more transparently. >> if a child wants to june a sports club or needs a plunger extra help at school -- wants to join a sports club redevelops at school, this one piece of paper is all it takes the opposition says the money is not going where it is really needed. they say the scheme is a mere drop in the ocean considering the lack of investment in education. >> if we really want to aw to the biggest problem in this country, then do not fool around with these small-scale schooling programs that will not really help anyone. start spending money on institutions. >> the government and opposition are in agreement on one point, children of the unemployed to not have to suffer because their

parents are dependent on welfare. >> the eu justice ministers have been meeting in brussels to discuss fighting human trafficking in child pornography. also on the agenda are plans to drop new divorce procedures for binational c c. each of the eu member states have different regulations. whoever files first gets to choose what country's laws government the divorce. the eu wants to change that to the country of residence being the only ones that count. >> when oliver split from his wife, he lost his son. he went to court -- she went to court in her home country of slovakia and custody. in germany, oliver was powerless against the decision. now europea justice ministers want to put an end to the legal quadrate mire that some find themselves in. >> it is not about being the quickest and finding a court where an individual things conditions will be most

favorable. up until now, it was mainly the men who acted faster. adding this move will create more justice. >> but it will not be just as applied uniformly across the union. some 14 eu states, including germany, france, and spain, he chosen to opt for a stronger cooperation in this area. others can join in at a later date. >> the choice of what law to apply it lies with the couple. with the dispute, it is at the country were the live. there are a host of mechanisms that simplify the procedure. >> the procedure will come too late for oliver. but one standardize rules are in place across europe, many others might be scared his ordeal. >> much of central europe is still suffering from an early blast of winter with snow and subzero temperatures for testing the week ended up the weather related death toll has reached 45. 30 from poland where

temperatures dropped to minus 50 degrees celsius. most of the victims are homeless. in southern europe, heavy rain causing problems. in bosnia, the river burst its banks. states of emergency have been declared. researcher from the u.s. say nasa has made a discovery that radically change is our understanding of the foundations of organic life. they found bacteria that thrive on arsenic in the california league. the bacteria survive and grow by exchanging phosphorus for arsenic. the find offers new rises in the search for other organisms on earth and beyond. >> the landscape surrounding this lake in california could be from another planet. this unusual environment has become a research lab for nasa scientists. despite containing high levels of the toxic element arsenic, the water is home to bacterial life forms. scientists to bacteria from the lake and rhythm on a diet low in phosphorus and high in our

senate. when fed only arsenic, the bacteria continued to grow. the microbes were incorporating person into their basic cell structure. phosphorous is one of the six basic building blocks of life, along with carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen. microbes, fish, mammals, all living organisms exist on the basis of these elements. in the late bacteria, scientists now say they can add a seventh, arsenate. it is a ground-breaking discovery for the scientist in her team of astrobiology arrest. >> if there is an organism on earth doing some different, we have cracked open the door to what is possible for life elsewhere in the universe. >> but not everyone is convinced of the significance of the find. two german scientists that criticized the study for what they called its inconclusive data. as for nasa, the discovery has come at the right time. the agency is facing draconian budget cuts, and the search for

new life could change that. >> you're watching the journal. we will be back in a minute with n depth." ♪

ction projects. global 3000 on dw-tv. >> welcome back. the estonian capital is hosting the 23rd european film awards on saturday. it is the first time the european film academy is presenting the awards in the baltic country. since its inception, the event's organizers have been proud of the european film academy independence and its commitment not to promote the commercial success but to viewing movies as an aspect of european culture. and to underlining the contribution art can make in helping us understand the complexities of the modern world. ♪ >> it is always a glittering event. the european film prizes already been awarded 22 times.

stars like these are honorary members of the european film academy. it is initially known as the felix, the trophy was not well known as the the film industry. nowadays, it is a highly coveted award. the winner is selected by over twtwthousand film industry people in the ballot. it is similar to the oscars procedure. the european film awards would like to present a credible alternative. >> for the first time ever, one of the nominees in the 17 award categories is from croatia. the young actress is the star of one of the films on showe, and t is a move opposed to the heart of the suffering caused by the wars in the balkans in the early 1990's. concerns about ethnic and religious sensibilities make it diffict topic to tackle. critics say this young croatian star has been a brilliant job for trying such a difficult

role. >> the croatian national theater is her second home. she began her acting career here. she knows everyone from the stage hands to the director. at the moment though, she is also involved with making a film. her latest film is the story of luna from sarajevo. the former soler loses hisob and has a breakdown, plagued by memories of the vicious war that broke out as yugoslavia fell apart. she fills the past catching up with her, much like the woman portraying her. >> i was 10 when it started, and the war started in my village in croatia. so my mom, my sister, and me had to run away. because my village was occupied, and we got an apartment for refugees. so the next two years, i was mostly living in a shelter,

because there were bombing the city almost every day. with the war stuff in luna, i did not have any problems because i had it in myself. >> luna returns to her home village where she enjoyed a happy childhood until the war started and drove right. it is a difficult scene for her to play. [cries] >> when we started to prepare this movie, i realized that i have so many areas of myself that are not cleaned. i think that is the biggest problem today in croatia and in bosnia. that is for my generation. because we kind of, you know, we never kind of stood face-to- face to the war thing end the war growing up.

>> the international co- production focuses on t effects of the war on people today. they charged topic was filmed by a european team of bosnians, croatians, germans, and austrians. >> it was funny to speak a little bit of english, a bosnian, german. it felt like a big part of the world. so you felt ok, it is not a bosnian movie. i am doing an international movie. because it is a world topic. >> one of her favorite spots is were the market performers from the villages sell their produce. everyone here knows her these days now that she is famous abroad. >> first, you have to, you know, become somebody abroad, and then you come home and people here say, oh, you're somebody, so you

work. >> she has already won five international prizes and has three new roles lined up. right now, she is preparing for the european film awards gala. but even if she does not win the award, she still has enough reasons to celebrate. >> two of the films in the running for the european film prize are german productions that look at the country's debate about immigration and islam's role in society. that debate was fueled by a book by a former member of the german central bank. in a, he argues that islamic immigrants are placing a financial and cultural strain on the country. the but has become a bestseller, and the immigration debate continues to rage, meanin both films are likely to attract a broad audience. >> honor killings are the focus of the migrant family drama.

whereas, the other movie takes the comedy track, tracing two lads trying to get rich quick running a disco in hamburg. the two movies look at my experiences in germany from cocoletely different angles. >> this one portrays a young woman forced into marriage in turkey. she escapes her husband's violent and returns to her family in berlin with her son. ♪ >> [speaking foreign language] >> but her family will not hear of it. the film paints a bleak picture of a conservative muslim family whose life is dictated by religion. and his actress place at the sister. i have seen the film with turkish friends, and some of them said that is just not true.

it is not what turkish families are like. it is portrayed in a brutal fashion, and now the germans will think we're all like that. but i think the germans have seen this bill and have understood some of it, and they realize not every family is like this. >> integration or segregation, fears of parallel societies, the opportunities muslim migrants have, these are subjects that have been keenly debated as a result of t propositions by the former central banker. in his controversial book, germany does away with itself and claims many muslims living here are not capable of hitting into german society. but these two movies had already turned the spotlight on these burning issues earlier and with considerable international success. >> the subject definitely keeps popping up again in a new guise. bit is very provocative. i think the role of muslim men and women in contemporary german

society will keep us busy for quite some time yet. >> it is certainly on the top of film makers agendas. in his film, he shows the world the also portrayed in earlier works. greeks, turks, live in hamburg, multi-cultural melting pot. ♪ [speaking foreign language] >> these young guys come from a range of nationalities and are trying to find the love of their lives, and plenty of cash. the comedy shows their life together as a success story and with plenty of humor, too. both films are candidates for prizes in this year's european film academy awards. but while soul kitchen showed migrants very much at home here, the other movie shows a family that separates itself off.

the movies reflect dual strands in the national dialogue currently under way throughout germany. >> and that has been our "in depth" at this hour. thank you for watching. ♪ captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- ♪ ♪

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